Nanogranular L1(0) FePt-C-Ta2O5 composite media for perpendicular recording applications

In this report, the effect of simultaneously adding two dopants (C and Ta2O5) in FePt was investigated. (Fe55Pt45)79C21-(x vol%) Ta2O5 films (where x = 0% to 20%) were prepared using both low and high power magnetron sputtering on MgO (2 nm)/CrRu (30 nm) underlayers with in-situ heating at 350 degrees C. Films deposited at low power showed a decrease in exchange coupling with increasing Ta2O5 content. Out-of-plane coercivity of 7.2 kOe was observed even with up to 20 vol% Ta2O5. X-Ray diffraction spectra showed presence of FePt(001) texture for all compositions of Ta2O5 ranging from 0 to 20 vol% suggesting that the perpendicular anisotropy was maintained even with up to 20 vol% of dopant content. Films deposited at high power showed a different behavior with an initial increase in out-of-plane coercivity to 8.2 kOe and a reduction in exchange coupling with loop slope parameter (alpha) approaching a fully decoupled value of 1. Further increase in doping content led to deterioration in the out-of-plane coercivity, as well as an increase in the exchange coupling.     

L10相CoPt纳米磁性材料的研究进展

综述了低维CoPt纳米磁性材料的制备方法(液相法、电化学沉积法和物理气相沉积法)。L10相CoPt纳米磁性材料因其强烈的单轴磁晶各向异性和高的矫顽力成为当前研究的热点,分析了影响L10相CoPt磁性材料的成相因素如退火、基底等,并系统总结了提高磁性能的方法,展望了其研究趋势。     

FeTaC magnetic soft underlayer for L1(0) FePt based perpendicular recording media

FeTaC magnetic soft underlayer under elevated temperature process conditions for L1(0) FePt based perpendicular recording media has been investigated. After annealing FeTaC for 40 min at 350 degrees C, saturation moment increases to 750 emu/cm3 and, coercivity and remanent moment reduce to 2.3 Oe and 166 emu/cm3 respectively. The microstructure of FeTaC annealed at 350 degrees C for 40 min composes of Fe nanocrystals with random orientations immersed in an amorphous matrix. FeTaC surface roughness due to elevated temperature process is reduced by 100 W RF plasma etching and CrRu with (200) orientation is developed. It is found that changing elemental composition due to C diffusion into the CrRu layer and RF preferential etching over Fe, Ta and C has the influence on the magnetic properties of FeTaC.     

Microstructural enhancement of high coercivity L1(0)-FePt films for next-generation magnetic recording media

The effects of substrate Ar-ion milling and Ta adhesion layer on the microstructural and magnetic properties of L1(0)-FePt films prepared on Si, SiO2, and glass substrates were investigated. It was discovered that the relatively large in-plane surface roughness of CrRu/MgO/FePt films deposited on Si substrates was due to the deformation of the CrRu layer when the composition was heated to 550 degrees C. More than an order of magnitude improvement for the in-plane surface roughness was achieved when substrate Ar-ion milling or Ta adhesion layer was incorporated into the process. While the Ta adhesion layer proved to be detrimental to the (200) growth of the CrRu layer, optimal FePt film properties with coercivity values larger than 2 Tesla and out-of-plane roughness less than 1 nm were achieved when only substrate Ar-ion milling was implemented.     

Co adatoms on Au(1 0 0): energetics of site exchange

The local approximation of the density functional theory and KKR Green's function method are used to investigate energetics of Co adatoms on the ideal Au(1 0 0) surface. Total energy calculations show that Co atoms and small Co clusters prefer to be embedded inside the substrate. The nearest-neighbor interaction between Co atoms in the gold substrate, being attractive, is small. Therefore, the instability of embedded Co clusters is expected.     

Ion beam modification of exchange coupling to fabricate patterned media

For bit-patterned media, media with low remanent magnetization (M(r)) and high M(r) regions are needed for storing information, which is usually achieved by lithographically defining magnetic and non-magnetic regions. In this work, we have investigated the use of ion beam modification of media surface to define the low and high M(r) states using a medium that is at a low M(r) state to start with. The low M(r) state is achieved by the use of synthetic antiferromagnetic coupling obtained in Co-alloy/Ru/Co-alloy trilayer structured film. Local ion beam modification at 30 keV energy using Ga+ ions was used to create high M(r) regions. AFM and MFM observations indicated that patterned regions of low and high M(r) can be observed with ion beam irradiation. This technique is a potential method to achieve patterned media without the need of planarization techniques.     

Tilt-axis effect on oxidation behaviour and capacitance-voltage characteristics of (1 0 0) silicon

(1 0 0) Si and 4° off (1 0 0) Si were oxidized in dry oxygen, and the differences in thermal oxidation behaviour, oxidation-induced stacking faults and capacitance-voltage characteristics were investigated. The thickness of the oxide produced by oxidation of the silicon samples in dry oxygen in the temperature range 1000–1200°C was measured using an ellipsometer. The oxidation rates of the 4° off (1 0 0) Si were faster than those of the (1 0 0) Si but the differences between them decreased as the oxidation temperature increased. The size of the oxidation-induced stacking faults increased as the oxidation time and temperature increased from 1100 to 1200°C. The density of oxidation-induced stacking faults was lower for the 4° off (1 0 0) Si than for the (1 0 0) Si. Variations in the capacitance-voltage characteristics with the oxidation temperature showed that the flat band voltages were shifted positively. The fixed surface state charge density and the interface trapped charge density of the 4° off (1 0 0) Si were lower than those of the (1 0 0) Si. Si lattice strains induced by excess interstitial Si atoms were investigated through convergent beam electron diffraction. The lattice strain of the 4° off (1 0 0) Si was lower than that of the (1 0 0) Si and this showed that the 4° off (1 0 0) Si had a lower interstitial concentration. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The effect of Mn doping in FePt nanoparticles on the magnetic properties of the L1(0) phase

FePtMn nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution and an average diameter of 3?nm were synthesized by the chemical reduction of Fe(acac)(3) and Pt(acac)(2) by NaBH(4) and the thermal decomposition of Mn(2)(CO)(10) in phenyl ether. The as-made nanoparticles have a disordered face-centred cubic (fcc) structure, which transformed after thermal treatment at 650?°C to an ordered face-centred tetragonal (fct) structure, possessing coercivity values up to 13.7?kOe at room temperature. The coercivity of the annealed samples depends on the amount of Mn added to the reaction mixture, with the coercive field increasing significantly with the partial substitution of Pt by Mn, while the partial substitution of Fe by Mn does not affect the magnetic properties strongly.     

Positive exchange bias in epitaxial permalloy/MgO integrated with Si (1 0 0)

In magnetic random access memory (MRAM) devices, soft magnetic thin film elements such as permalloy (Py) are used as unit cells of information. The epitaxial integration of these elements with the technologically important substrate Si (1 0 0) and a thorough understanding of their magnetic properties are critical for CMOS-based magnetic devices. We report on the epitaxial growth of Ni_82.5Fe_17.5 (permalloy, Py) on Si (1 0 0) using a TiN/MgO buffer layer. Initial stages of growth are characterized by the formation of discrete islands that gradually merge into a continuous film as deposition times are extended. Interestingly, we find that the magnetic features of Py films in early stages of island coalescence are distinctly different from the films formed initially (discrete islands) and after extended deposition times (narrow distribution of equiaxed granular films). Isothermal in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic measurements performed on these transitional films show highly anisotropic magnetic behavior with an easy magnetization axis lying in the plane of the film. Importantly, when this sample is zero-field cooled, a positive exchange bias and vertical loop shift are observed, unusual for a soft ferromagnet like Py. Repeated field cycling and hysteresis loops up to the fields of 7T produced reproducible hysteresis loops indicating the existence of strongly pinned spin configurations. Classical interface related exchange bias models cannot explain the observed magnetic features of the transitional Py films. We believe that the anomalous magnetic behavior of such Py films may be explained by considering the highly irregular morphology that develops at intermediate growth times that are possibly also undergoing a transition from Bloch to Neel domain wall structures as a function of Py island size. This study broadens the current understanding of magnetic properties of Py thin layers for technological applications in magneto-electronic devices, integrated with Si (1 0 0).     

Transmission electron microscope study of the topotactic reaction of (0 0 1), (0 1 1) and (1 1 1) Ag films and Te

The formation, structure and morphology of silver telluride was investigated in the reaction of (0 0 1), (0 1 1) and (1 1 1) single crystalline Ag films with vacuum deposited Te. Silver films 30–40 nm in thickness were deposited by thermal evaporation onto water- and chlorine-treated NaCl. Onto this silver 1–40 nm of tellurium were deposited at 100 and 200 °C. The Ag–Te reaction occurred during Te deposition. Accordingly, formation of the compound phase was investigated from the nucleation stage through complete tellurization on either side of the polymorphic phase transformation temperature (T_c=150 °C). Transmission electron microscope and selected area electron diffraction showed that monoclinic silver telluride (Ag₂Te) of different morphology and texture was always formed. The orientation of silver and monoclinic phase upon differently oriented monocrystalline Ag films and at deposition temperatures around T_c is discussed.     

Molecular dynamics study of cluster impact on the (0 0 1) and (1 1 0) surfaces of fcc metals

Molecular dynamics simulations of the impact deposition of metal clusters on fcc metal surfaces are presented. Two-dimensional elongated islands are formed when the incident cluster travels parallel to the surface. For perpendicular incidence the results of the impact event are very sensitive to the relative cohesive properties of the cluster and substrate atoms.     

Preferentially oriented thin-film growth of CuO(1 1 1) and Cu2O(0 0 1) on MgO(0 0 1) substrate by reactive dc-magnetron sputtering

Copper oxide films deposited on MgO(0 0 1) substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering under the metal-mode condition were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) analyses for structural analysis, and X-ray-excited Auger electron spectroscopy (XAES) for chemical bonding analysis. CuO(1 1 1) thin films grew from their initial growth stage maintaining the same crystallinity on MgO(0 0 1) substrates at 400°C. When the substrate temperature was increased to 600 °C, the as-sputtered films comprise Cu(0 0 1), amorphous Cu₂O phase, and Cu₂O(0 0 1) phase. The Cu(0 0 1) phase was observed at initial growth stage. This is probably because O₂ gas molecules could not sufficiently stick to the MgO substrate at 600 °C. Single phase of Cu₂O(0 0 1) was obtained by the cooling of the as-sputtered films in O₂ atmosphere. The growth of single phase Cu₂O(0 0 1) is considered as a solid-phase heteroepitaxial growth on MgO(0 0 1) surface, which was caused by incorporating O₂ gas into the as-sputtered films.     

Energetics of Ge addimers on the Si(1 0 0) and Ge(1 0 0) surfaces: a comparative study

The adsorption energetics of Ge dimers on the (1 0 0) surfaces of Ge and Si has been investigated using the first-principles molecular dynamics method. Four high-symmetry configurations have been considered and fully relaxed. The most stable configuration for Ge dimers on Si(1 0 0) is found to be in the trough between two surface dimer rows, oriented parallel to the substrate Si dimers. These results are consistent with recent experimental studies of the system using the scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and help to clarify some existing controversies on the interpretation of the STM images. In contrast, for Ge dimers on Ge(1 0 0), the most stable configuration is on top of the substrate dimer row.     

Growth process of CuO(1 1 1) and Cu2O(0 0 1) thin films on MgO(0 0 1) substrate under metal-mode condition by reactive dc-magnetron sputtering

The growth process of CuO and Cu₂O thin films on MgO(0 0 1) substrates by reactive dc-magnetron sputtering was studied by reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and atomic-force microscopy (AFM). The RHEED pattern and AFM image showed that (1) three-dimensional Cu(0 0 1) islands grew on MgO under the nonreactive sputtering condition, (2) CuO(1 1 1) was deposited layer by layer on MgO at 400 °C under the reactive sputtering condition, and (3) the film deposited at 600 °C in the initial growth stage was composed of three-dimensional Cu islands because O₂ gas could not be incorporated into them due to the low sticking coefficient of O₂ on MgO under the reactive sputtering condition. The layer-by-layer CuO(1 1 1) thin-film growth process is discussed from the viewpoint that Cu and oxygen species are supplied in stoichiometry onto the MgO substrate to form CuO thin-film crystals while maintaining minimum interfacial energy between CuO and MgO.     

Molecular dynamics description of silver adatom diffusion on Ag(1 0 0) and Ag(1 1 1) surfaces

The self-diffusion processes of single adatoms on Ag(1 0 0) and Ag(1 1 1) surfaces have been studied using molecular-dynamics simulations and a many-body potential derived in the framework of the second-moment approximation to the tight-binding model. Our results for the (1 0 0) surface indicate that, although the migration energy for hopping is lower than that of the exchange mechanism, the exchange diffusion is higher than hopping diffusion for temperatures above 600 K. The migration energy for the hopping mechanism is in very good agreement with the experiment and the results of ab initio calculations. We also find that for the Ag(1 1 1) face the dominant mechanism is the hopping, which exhibit Arrhenius behaviour with two distinct temperature ranges, corresponding to two different migration energies. The diffusion in the high temperature region is mainly due to correlated jumps requiring an activation energy which is in excellent agreement with the experimental data. In addition the temperature dependence of the mean-square-displacements and the relaxations of both surface atoms and adatoms are presented and compared with previous studies.     

90°coupling in (Fe/Cr/Fe)AFM/Cr/Fe system epitaxially grown on GaAs(0 0 1)

Single-crystalline (Fe/Cr/Fe)_AFM/Cr/Fe structures were epitaxially grown on atomically flat GaAs(0 0 1). Choosing the same thickness of the antiferromagnetically (AFM) coupled Fe layers in the bottom (Fe/Cr/Fe)_AFM structure, their net magnetization is balanced to zero, in particular up to a spin-flop transition when the field is applied along the [1 1 0] direction. For the Cr thicknesses at which the top Fe layer is weakly magnetically coupled to the bottom (Fe/Cr/Fe)_AFM structure, at low fields, the magneto-optical Kerr effect and/or SQUID signal from the sample corresponds to the top Fe layer only. An influence of the Cr spin structure on the magnetization reversal in the Fe layer is reported. In particular, a strong increase of coercivity (by a factor of 12) is found at low temperatures. A 90° coupling is detected which affects the minor loops measured along the [−1 1 0] and [1 0 0] directions.     

Asymmetric light transmission based on coupling between photonic crystal waveguides and L1/L3 cavity

A compact design of all-optical diode with mode conversion function based on a two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguide and an L1 or L3 cavity is theoretically investigated. The proposed photonic crystal structures comprise a triangular arrangement of air holes embedded in a silicon substrate. Asymmetric light propagation is achieved via the spatial mode match/mismatch in the coupling region. The simulations show that at each cavity’s resonance frequency, the transmission efficiency of the structure with the L1 and L3 cavities reach 79% and 73%, while the corresponding unidirectionalities are 46 and 37 dB, respectively. The functional frequency can be controlled by simply adjusting the radii of specific air holes in the L1 and L3 cavities. The proposed structure can be used as a frequency filter, a beam splitter and has potential applications in all-optical integrated circuits.     

A SiC bicrystal junction on the (0 0 0 1) plane

A SiC bicrystal junction in which two crystals superpose with a common (0001) plane has been investigated by optical microscopy and X-ray precession camera techniques. The behaviour of such a junction is discussed from the viewpoint of sintering and grain boundaries in SiC using a crystallographic concept of compound tessellation. Six examples of bicrystals are considered with respect to the observed and calculated superposing rotation angles and the densities of the superpositions.     

SrO分子在GaN(0001)表面吸附的密度泛函理论研究

建立了SrO/GaN(0001)2×2表面吸附模型,采用基于第一性原理的密度泛函理论平面波超软赝势方法对SrO分子的吸附生长进行了计算,详细研究了SrO分子在表面的吸附位置、吸附能及表面化学键特性。计算发现,SrO分子在GaN(0001)表面吸附不会发生分解,最稳定吸附位为Ga桥位,吸附能达到7.257~7.264 eV。通过电荷布居数和态密度分析,SrO分子吸附后O与表面的一个Ga原子形成的化学键表现出共价键特征,电子由SrO转移给表面部分Ga原子,GaN(0001)仍存在表面态。